Automatic apparatus for attaching wires to terminals

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for inserting wires into wire-receiving portions of terminals in an electrical connector comprises wire severing and inserting means for trimming the wire end and inserting the trimmed end into wire receiving portion of a terminal. The connector, in which the terminals are contained, is held on a carriage which is indexed during each operating cycle so that each terminal is presented to the inserting means for reception of a wire.

United States Patent [1 1 Brehm et' al.

[ 1 Oct. 23, 1973 AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR ATTACHING WIRES TO TERMINALSlnventors: Ronald Carl Brehm, Carlisle;

Robert Alyin Long, Harrisburg; William Roderick Over, Ham'sburg, al] ofPa.

Assignee: AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Filed: Mar. 1, 1972 Appl. No.: 230,820

u.s. Cl. 29/203 MW lnt.Cl..... ..H0lr 43/04 Field of Search, 29/203 MW,203 H,

29/203 HC, 203 HM, 203 MM, 203 D References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSBrehm 29/203 H Primary ExaminerThomas H. Eager Attorney-William J.Keating et al.

{57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for inserting wires into wire-receiving portionsof terminals in an electrical connector comprises wire severing andinserting means for trimming the wire end and inserting the trimmed endinto wire receiving portion of a terminal. The connector, in which theterminals are contained, is held on a carriage which is indexed duringeach operating cycle so that each terminal is presented to the insertingmeans for reception of a wire.

11 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures Brown 29/278 mammwz ms SHEET UIUF 10PATENTEDMT 23 I923 SHEET OH 0! 10 wmm mimsuomsm 3.766622 SHEET 100F10 1AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR A-TTACIIING WIRES TO TERMINALS BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This invention relates to apparatus for trimming the ends ofwires and inserting the trimmed wire ends into a wire receiving'portionof an electrical terminal which is contained in an electrical devicesuch as a multicontact electrical connector. The present invention isrelated to the inventions disclosed and claimed in the followingapplications.

Serial No. Title 147,569 Pre-Loaded Electrical Connector 147.578Apparatus For Securing Wires To Terminals In Connectors 189,571Apparatus For Trimming and Inserting Wires Application Ser. No. 147,569discloses and claims a multi-contact electrical connector which ispre-loaded in the sense that as supplied to the user, it containselectrical contact terminals although wires are not connected to theterminals. The user inserts the ends of the wires into wire receivingportions of the terminals when the connector is put to use. Connectorsof this type are convenient for use under many circumstancesparticularly in the telephone industry since a multi-conductor cable canbe cut to the required lengthfor a specific installation terminated atthe work site. In other words, it is unnecessary to manufacture thecable and to apply the connectors to the ends of the cable in a factorywhere soldering operationscan be carried out.

I Application Ser. No. 147,578 discloses and claims a manually operatedtool for trimming the ends of a plurality of wiresand simultaneouslyinserting the trimmed wires into the terminal receiving portions of theconnector. Tools in accordance with the teaching of application Ser. No.147,578 are useful for cable termination operations carried out in thefield or at a work site. Application Ser. No. 189,571 discloses andclaims a compact hand tool for inserting a single wireinto the wirereceiving portion of a terminal and is. convenient for use where circuitchanges in pre-existingcables are being carried out and/or for cablerepairing operations.

There remains a need for an efficientsemi-automatic or automatic wiretrimming and inserting apparatus having power assist means which canbeused when relatively large numbers of cables are being terminated. Theinstant invention is directed tothe achievement of such a powered wireapparatus in accordance with some of the broad general teachings of theaboveidentified application Ser. No. 189,571. While the specificembodiment of the invention disclosed herein is intended for use withmulti-contact electrical connectors of the general type disclosed inapplication Ser. No. 147,569, it will be apparent that the principles ofthe invention can be employed in alternative embodiments intended foruse with other types of connectors or with other electrical deviceswhich contain terminals having wire receiving portions.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improvedapparatus for trimming the ends of wires and inserting the trimmed endsinto the wire receiving portions of electricalterminals. It is a furtherobject to provide a wire trimming and inserting apparatus which isadapted for use with a two-row multi-contact electrical connector. Afurther object isto provide a semiautomatic wire insertion apparatuswhich is convenient and efficient and which permits rapid inserting ofwires into the wire receiving portions of an electrical connector. Afurther object is to provide an apparatus which can be operated by anoperator with limited training and which will ensure accurate placementof the wires in the electrical device.

These and other objectsof the invention are achieved in a preferredembodiment thereof which is briefly described in the foregoing abstract,which is described in detail below, and which is shown in theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, with parts exploded, of amulti-contact electrical connector of the type with which the disclosedembodiment of the invention is intended for use.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred form of apparatus inaccordance with the invention, this view showing the apparatus withcover plates in position and illustrating the manner in which a cable isheld on the apparatus during a cable termination operation.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the cover platesremoved.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3,this view showing the connector carriage at the limit of its rearwardtravel.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the positionof the carriage at the beginning of a series inserting operations for aconnector.

FIG. 6, 7, and 8 are views taken along the lines 66, 7-7 and 88 of FIG.4.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale similar to FIG. 6showing the positions of the wire inserting rams and the wire clampingram at the beginning of an operating cycle of the apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing the positions of the partsat the end of the inserting operation.

FIG. 11 is a view taken along the lines 1 l 11 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view looking in the direction of the arrows12l2 of FIG. 9 showing the positions of the wire insertion ram and thewire stops at the beginning of the insertion operation.

' FIGS. 13 and 14 are views similar to FIG. 12 but showing the positionsof the parts at intermediate stages of the operating cycle.

The herein disclosed embodiment of the invention is intended to insertan insulated wire 2 into the terminal receiving portion 8 of each one ofa plurality of electrical terminals 4 contained in an electricalconnector 6. Connectors and terminals as disclosed in FIG. 1 are fullydescribed in application Ser. No. 147,569 however, some structuralfeatures of the connector and the terminal must be'described here for anunderstanding of the present invention. The wire receiving portion 8 ofeach terminal is generally U-shaped having spaced apart parallelplate-like sections 10, 12 which are connected by a bight section 14. Aslot extends through the bight at 15 and into the plate-like sections at16 so that when the wire is forced downwardly and to the slot, the edgesof the slot will penetrate the insulation of the wire and establishelectrical contact with the conducting core thereof.

The terminal 4 further comprises a flat shank 18 extending from platesection 12 and an offset contact portion 20 which has a laterallyextending ear 21 on its end. A plurality of cavities 22 extend throughthe connector housing from the rearward side 24 thereof and open into atrough 26 in the forward or mating side 28 of the housing. Thesecavities and recesses 29 on the sides of the trough 26 are contoured toreceive the terminals 4. The connectors shown are adapted to be matedwith a complementary connector as disclosed in application Ser. No.147,569. Barriers 30 are provided on the connector housing adjacent tothe rearward face 24 between adjacent cavities 22. It should also benoted that a flange 32 extends outwardly from the housing between therearward and mating faces and a rearwardly facing surface 34 and ledge35 are defined by the rearwardly facing side of this flange.

Turning now to FIGS. 24, an apparatus 36 in accordance with theinvention has a static frame structure comprising a base plate, parallelsidewalls 38, 38' a front endwall 40, a rear endwall 46, andtransversely extending intermediate frame walls 41, 42, and 44. Theseendwalls and the transverse walls 41, 42, 44 are recessed and areprovided with openings at appropriate locations for the accomodation ofthe moving structure described below. A carriage 48 is mounted on theupper side of the frame structure between spaced apart parallel rails50, 50' which extend from the endwall 46 leftwardly in FIG. 3 for thefull length of the apparatus and beyond the endwall 40 past a headsection 66 described below. The carriage 48 has ears or ribs 52, 52 onits sides (FIG. which are received in grooves 54 on the opposed sides ofthe rails 50, 50' to guide the carriage along the rails between theposition of FIGS. 4 and 5. The ends of the rails 50, 50 are secured toeach other by spacer blocks 51 and 53 and fasteners at the rearward andforward ends as shown best in FIG. 4. Advantageously, a stop block 55 isalso provided at the forward ends of the rails against the spacer block53 and is held in position by a fastener 56 which extends through theblock 53 and into the block 55. The rightwardly facing side of this stopblock 55 defines the limit of leftward movement of the carriage and thelocation of the carriage and of this stop is critical as will beapparent from the description which follows. The precise location of theside of the stop block 55 can be changed by interposing suitable shimsbetween the blocks 53 and 55.

A connector 6 is mounted in a cavity 60 on the upper side of thecarriage 48 and is precisely positioned by means of ears 62, 64extending from the upper side of the carriage. These ears bear againstthe surface 34 of the connector 6 and against the ends 37 of the ledge39 on the rearward side of the'connector. When the connector 6 isproperly mounted on the carriage, the wire receiving portions 8 of theterminals thus face in opposite directions laterally of the carriage asis apparent from FIG. 3.

The individual wires are inserted into the wirereceiving portions 8 ofthe terminals at an insertion head 66 on the left hand side of theapparatus as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4. During each operating cycle, twowires are placed in this head on theopposite sides of a guide member126. The two wires are trimmed during the cycle and inserted into aterminal. The carriage is indexed during each cycle by an indexingmechanism described below so as to present each terminal in theconnector to the insertion station.

As shown in FIG. 6, the insertion head is substantially symmetricalabout the vertical center line of this Figure, the structure on thelefthand side of the drawing which inserts a wire into a terminal on thelefthand side of the connector being duplicated on the righthand side ofthe drawing. Accordingly, only the structure shown on the lefthand sideof FIG. 6 will be described in detail and the same reference numerals,differentiated by prime marks, will be employed to denote correspondingstructural elements on the two sides of the insertion head 66.

Centrally of the head 66, an L-shaped bracket 68 (FIG. 4) is secured tothe transversely extending wall 40. This bracket has a forwardlyextending arm 70 which is beneath, and which supports, the projectingforward ends of the rails 50, 50.

On the lefthand side of the rails, a flange 72 (FIG. 1 1) extendsforwardly of, and is integral with, the frame plate 40. U-shaped ramhousings 74, 76 are secured to flange 72 by fasteners 78, 80 as bestshown in FIG. 11, on the upper and lower sides thereof. An insertion ram82 is slidably contained between the sidewalls of the upper housing 74for movement towards and away from a connector held on the carriage asshown in FIG. 10. A fixed shear blade 84 is disposed between the lowerside of insertion ram 82 and the upper surface of the flange 72 and isheld in position by a pin 86 which extends into flange 72. A clampingram 88 is slidably contained between the sidewalls of the lower ramhousing 76 beneath the flange 72 and functions to clamp a wire duringthe trimming and inserting operations. The actuating means for the rams82, 88 is described below.

A wire stop 90 is mounted in the housing 74 above the insertion ram 82and is interfitted with the inserting ram by a heel portion 91 which isreceived in a recess 114 on the insertion ram. The wire stop 90 has arightwardly facing shoulder 116 which is opposed to a leftwardly facingshoulder 118 on the ram 82 to limit relative movement of the stop withrespect to the ram. Additionally, a spring 120 is interposed between theinner end of the stop 90 and the wall 121 of the recess and a pin 122extends from the guide and into the spring to maintain the parts in theposition. This spring normally biases the wire stop rightwardly withrespect to the insertion ram. It should also be noted that the free endof the stop is normally in engagement with the free end 124' of the stop90'. These two stops serve to assist in locating the wires in alignmentwith the terminal receiving portions of the slots but must move apart,as will be described below, when the carriage is indexed.

The end of the insertion ram 82 has a transversely extending recess 92,the width of which as viewed in FIG. 10 is sufficient to receive thewire receiving portion 8 of the terminal. Additionally, a narrowinsertion pin 94 is mounted by means of a mounting pin 96 in the ram andextends into the recess 92. This pin is dimensioned to enter the slot 15in the bight portion 14 of the terminal to push the wire into the innerstop portions 16.

The shear plate 84 has an inner end 102 which is disposed against thesurfaces 34, 35 of a connector mounted on the carriage and has anopening 104 adjacent to its end for reception of a wire. The righthandend of this opening defines an edge 106 which functions as a fixedshearing edge in cooperation with the lower edge 107 of the insertionram 82 to shear the wire immediately prior to insertion as is shown inFIGS. 9 and 10. It should be noted that the opening 104 extends to theforwardly facing edge of the fixed shear plate as shown in FIG. 3 sothat a wire can be moved laterally of its axis into this opening to theposition of FIG. 9.

The insertion ram 82 is in many respects similar, to the insertion raildisclosed in application Ser, No. 189,571, andfis in accordance with theteachings of that application;

The clamping ram 88 has a rubber pad 108 on its face and is adapted tomove into a recess 110 on the outwardly facing side of the rail 50 toclamp the wire 2 during trimming and insertion. In order to assist inpositioning' of the wire, it is advantageous to provide a downwardly andoutwardly inclined groove 112 in the rail 50 immediately above therecess 110. Clamping of the wire during trimming and insertion isdesirable in order to prevent substantial relative movement of the wirewith respect to the insertion ram during the inserting operation.

A wire separator 126 (FIGS. 2, 3, and 8) having a generally triangularcross-section is mounted on the upper sides of the rails '50 and assiststhe operator in separating the two wires of a pair so that he canposition each wire in alignment with the insertion and clamping ramscontained in the heads. It will be apparent from FIG. 2 that theoperator need only select a wire pair from the bundle 298, separate thepair, and move the wires inwardly'and into alignment with the insertionand clamping rams on the opposite sides of the carriage. Additionalguiding of the wires is achieved by guideblocks 128, 128' on each sideof the separator 126. These .guide blocks have surfaces 130 which extendbeside the separator 126 and which function to guide the two wires andconfine them during leftward movement as viewed in FIG. 2 until they arein alignment with the insertion and clamping rams.

The apparatus is electrically actuated by two switches 134, 134' mountedbeneath the wire inserting and trimming mechanisms (FIG. 8). Theseswitches have switch arms 132, 132' which are engaged by the wires toclose the switches when the wires are properly positioned by theoperator. The switches are wired in series in a manner such that theapparatus is cycled only when both switches are closed.

Asnoted above, the carriage 48 is movable between the extreme positionsshown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The carriage is normallybiased to the positionof FIG. 5, its position at thebeginning of an insertion cycle for aconnector, and is moved to the'position of FIG. 4 during the completecycle. The biasing means for biasing the carriage leftwardly to theposition of FIG. comprises a cable 148 which is secured to a pin 150mounted in a central recesson the underside of the carriage. This cableextends leftwardly through a slot 151 in the underside of the carriage48, through a slot 152 in a block 208 described below, and over a pulley154 mounted on a pin 156 journaled in the rails 50, 50 adjacent to thetransverse frame member 44 as shown in FIG. 3. The cable extendsrearwardly from the pulley 154 to a spring powered reel 158 which ismounted at 160 on an L-shaped bracket structure 162, the ends of whichare supported on the frame members 44 and 38 as best shown in FIG. 3.

Carriage 48 is fed rightwardly during each individual operating cycle bya short stroke feed pawl 164 which is engageable with rack teeth 204 onthe underside of the carriage, the pitch of these teeth being equal tothe spacing between adjacent terminals in the connector 6. Rightwardmovement of the carriage is controlled by a stop pawl 166 which isengageable with teeth 206 on an adjustable mounting bar 208 in thecarriage. This stop pawl in cooperation with the teeth 206 preventsrapid return of the carriage under the influence of the return reel 158.Finally, a long stroke feed pawl 168 is provided which moves thecarriage to the extreme rightward limit of its travel after the lastwire has been inserted into the connector.

The actuating means for the feed pawl 164 comprises a verticallyextending lever 172 to the'upper end of which the feed pawl 164 ispivoted at 170. The pawl is normally biased in a counterclockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 4 by a spring 171, the upper end of which isanchored to a pin 173extending from the pawl arm and the lower end ofwhich is anchored to a pin 175 mounted in the lever 172. Lever 172 ispivoted intermediate its ends at 174 to a bracket 176 extendingleftwardly-from the fixed frame member 41. The lower end of the lever172 has a pivotal connection with a pin 178 extending from a ball jointon the end of a connecting rod 182. As shown in FIG. 8, the pin 179 hasa relatively close-fit in a hole in the lower end of the lever while thepin 228 which extends from the opposite side of the joint 180 has apin-slot connection to lever 214. The reason for this difference isdescribed below.

The connecting rod 182 is pivotally connected by a ball joint 184 to abell crank 186 in the form of a pair of spaced apart plates, the eye ofthe joint extending between these plates to receive a pin 185 as shown.The bell crank 186 has a fixed pivot 188 on its lower end as viewed inFIG. 7 and a cam follower 192 is mounted on a pin 194 which extendsbetween the plates adjacent to the connecting rod eye 166. Bell crank186 is normally biased in a clockwise'direction as viewed in FIG. 4 by aspring 190 which extends from the bell crank to a pin 191 mounted in thebase plate so that the cam follower 192 is held against the contouredsurface of a cam 196 mounted on the main shaft 136.

Shaft 136 is suitably journaled in transversely extending frame members41, 42, and 44 and is coupled, through a single revolution clutch 138,to the output shaft 140' of an electric motor 142. The clutch 138, whichmay be of any suitable single revolution type, is controlled by an arm146 which in turn is controlled by a solenoid 144 mounted in a bracketwhich is anchored to the base plate. As previously noted, the switches134, 134' are wired in series in a manner such that when both switchesare'closed, solenoid 144 is energized to engage the clutch 138- anddrive the shaft through a single revolution.

The cam 196 is keyed to the shaft 136 by a key 197 so that'during eachcomplete revolution of the shaft 136, cam 196 will be carried through acomplete revolution to oscillate the lever 172 first in a clockwisedirection and then in a counterclockwise direction. The clockwisemovement of the lever feeds the carriage 48 a distance which isslightlygreater than the spacing between adjacent cavities or terminals in theconnector and the lefthand movement of the lever 172 returns the pawl toits normal position.

The previously identified locking pawl 166 is mounted on a pin 198 whichalso extends between the rails 50, 50'. This pawl is biased upwardly, ina counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 4, by a spirng 200 whichis received in a recess in block 202 fixed to the transverse framemember 42. The spring is also received in a recess on the underside ofthe pawl so that the pawl can move downwardly during feeding of thecarriage but will be returned to its initial position to lock thecarriage after incremental feeding has been carried out. The teeth 206with which the pawl 166 cooperates are provided on a rack bar 208 whichis adjustably secured to the carriage by fasteners 210 to permit preciselocation of the connector on the carriage. Finally, it should bementioned that the pawl 166 serves as a positioning pawl in that itdetermines the precise position of the carriage after each incrementalfeeding step. After the carriage has been fed by feed pawl 164 adistance slightly greater than the distance between adjacent cavities inthe connector, the carriage is returned by the cable 148 until the stoppawl lodges against one of the teeth 206 to precisely position thecarriage.

After the last pair of wires have been inserted into the wire-receivingportions of the terminals at the lefthand end of a connector 6 mountedon the carriage, that is after the wires have been connected to all ofthe terminals, it is desirable to move the carriage to the rightwardlimit of its travel (FIG. 4) in order to facilitate removal of theconnector from the carriage and the mounting of another connector in thecarriage. This final feeding operation of the carriage is accomplishedby a long stroke pawl 168 which is pivotally mounted on the upper end ofthe lever 214. The pawl 168 is biased in a counterclockwise directionwith respect to its pivot 212 by means of a spring 220 anchored at itsupper end to a pin 222 mounted in the pawl and anchored at its lower endto a pin 224 mounted in the lever. The lever is pivoted at 216 to abracket 218 which extends from the transverse frame member 41 beside thepreviously described bracket 176, see (FIG. 8). It will be noted fromFIG. 4 that the pivot pin 216 is located a substantial distance belowthe pivot pin 174. The lower end of the lever 214 is provided with anelongated slot 226 through which the pin 228 extends from the ball joint180. The lever 214 is thus oscillated during each operating cycle by thecam 196, the bell crank 186, and the connecting rod 182. However, byvirtue of the fact that pivot pin 216 is relatively close to the balljoint 180, the stroke of the lever 214 is considerably longer than thestroke of the lever 172.

The pawl 168 on the end of the lever 214 engages a single tooth 230which is located leftwardly (as viewed in FIG. 4) of the rack section204 on the underside of the carriage. The tooth 230 is on the oppositeside of the carriage from the rack section 204 so that duringincremental feeding of the carriage by the pawl 164, that is during theshort feed strokes which take place at the end of each wire insertingcycle, the pawl 168 oscillates but does not engage the tooth 230. Thetooth 230 is located such that it is engaged by the pawl 168 afterinsertion of wires into the terminals at the lefthand end of theconnector and the long stroke of this pawl imparts a final feedingmotion to the carriage which moves it to the rightward limit of itstravel. The oversized slot 226 in the lower end of the lever 214 isrequired to permit relative motion of the pin 228 with respect to thelower end of the lever, this motion being required to prevent binding ofthe pin 226 in the lever.

It is necessary to disengage the three pawls 168, 164, 166 from theunderside of the carriage at the beginning of each operating sequencefor a new connector when the carriage is moved leftwardly from theposition of the FIG. 4 to the position of FIG. 5. The pawls aredisengaged by means of a lever 232, FIG. 7, which extends beside therail 50 between the plate members 40 and 44 and which is offset at 236from the rail. This lever extends through an opening in plate 44, ispivotally mounted at 238 in a bracket secured to the rightwardly facingside of frame plate 44 and has a rightwardly extending end which ispivoted at 242 to the end of a plunger 244 of a solenoid 246. Thelefthand end 234 of the leveris received in a slot for guiding purposes,in a bracket 235 secured to the transverse frame plate 40. The portionof the lever 232 which is beside the pawl 166 has a laterally extendingflange 248 that overhangs a pin 250 extending from the pawl. The portionof the lever 232 which is adjacent to the pawl 168 has a similar flange260 which overhangs a pin 258 mounting in th pawl 168. A generallyL-shaped arm extends from the lever 232 between the flanges 248, 260 andthe forwardly extending section 254 of arm 256 overhangs a pin 252extending from the pawl 164.

It will be apparent that upon upward movement of the plunger 244, thelever 232 will be swung through a slight counter-clockwise arc about itspivot axis 238 as viewed in FIG. 4 so that the flanges 248 and 260 andthe arm 254 will move downwardly. These flanges and this arm engage thepins 250, 252, and 258 and swing the pawls downwardly about theirrespective pivotal axes so that they are disengaged from the carriage.

The solenoid 246 is energized by pressing a button 247 on the front ofthe apparatus, the circuitry including a conventional holding circuit toensure that the so lenoid remains energized for a period of sufficienttime duration to permit the carriage to move to the position of FIG. 5.

Under some circumstances, it may be necessary to manually disengage thepawls 164, 166, 168 from the carriage. This can be done by a thumb-piece233 which extends from the lever 232.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 6, the insertion ram 82 is actuated by a cam290 keyed to the main shaft 136 through a linkage as follows. Thelefthand end of the ram 82 is pivoted at 262 at parallel links 264 whichin turn are pivoted at 266 to a crank arm 267. This crank arm is keyedat 268 to a jack shaft 270 which extends rearwardly through framesection 40 to the frame section 42 and which is journaled in thesesections at 274 and 272. An additional arm 276 is secured on the shaft270 adjacent to the transverse frame section 242 and extends inwardlytowards the center of the apparatus. Arm 276 is slotted at its end forthe reception of an eye 278 on the end of an adjustable connecting rod280, a suitable pin extending through this eye and having its endssupported in the arm. The connecting rod 280 extends downwardly asviewed in FIG. 6 and has an eye on its end through which a pivot pin 282extends. This pin is mounted on the end of a lever 284 which is pivotedat its end 286 to an ear which is integral with the frame section 41. Acam follower 288 is supported on the lever between the pivotalconnections 282, 286 and is received in cam track of a circular cam 290which is keyed to the shaft 136. The contour of the cam track 292 issuch that during each complete revolution of the shaft 136, the lever284 will be oscillated thereby to oscillate the jack shaft 270 and thecrank arm 267. Oscillation of the crank arm causes the insertion ram 82to move inwardly to insert a wire into the terminal receiving portion ofthe terminals and to return to its normal position.

designed to'bring about the retraction of the ram to the position ofFIG. 14 in order to. open the wire stops 90 as will be explained below.

'T he clamping ram 88-is, like the insertion ram 82,

and clamping rams 82' 88'. are actuated by the'track on the side whichfaces rightwardly in FIG. '3. The levers 284,284 arethus pivoted onopposite sides of the center line as viewed in FIG. 6.

OPERATION At the beginning of the operating procedure'or sequence ofsteps for a connector 6, a carriage will be in the position of-FIGS. 3and 4. The operator locates the connector 6 on the upper side of thecarriage beneath the ears 62, 64 and he then clamps the cable 293against the upper'surface of an ear 294 which is adjacent to theconnector. The cable sheath is clamped to the ear bya suitable clamp asshown and the wire bundle, comprising the pairs of conductors in thecable, is dressedupwardly and rearwardly as shown in FIG. 2. Theoperator'then depresses the button 247 to disengage the pawls 164, 166,168 from the carriage so that the carriage is'permitted to moveleftwardly to the position of FIG. under the influence to the springreel 158. The operator then selects an individual pair of wires from thebundle and pulls them downwardlyover the separator 126 and then pullsthe wires inwardly against the wire stops 90, 90' whichare resilientlybiased against each other. These stops90, 90" assist in locating thewires in alignment with the wire-receiving grooves 112 of the"railsQWhen' the switch arms 132, 132' are depressed by the wires, thecontrol circuit causes the solenoid 144to be energized thereby engagingthe single revolution clutch 138 so that the shaft 136is rotated througha single revolution. The cams on the shaft 136 are timed such that therams 82, 88, 82 88 move inwardly from the positions of FIG. 9 to thepositions of FIG. 10, the clamping rams 88 arriving at their innerpositions prior to the insertion rams so that the wires 2, 2' will beclamped during the severing and insertion operation. As the insertionrams 82, 82 move inwardly, the wires are trimmed in'the planes definedby the upper surfaces of the fixed shear plates 84, 84' when the edges107, 107f move past the edges of the fixed shear plates. The leadingends of the insertion rams capture the trimmed wires and push them intothe wire-receiving positions of the terminals, the insertion punches 94,94' entering the terminals as shown in FIG. 10 at the time of completeinsertion when the rams are at the inner limits of their strokes. Afterinsertion of the wires has been accomplished, the rams 82, 88,82, 88'are retracted until the insertion rams reach the positions of FIG. 14.During retraction of these insertion rams, the shoulders 118, 118" ofthe rams engage the shoulder 116, 116 on the inner ends of the wirestops and the wire stops are moved apart by a distance to permit passageof the wires 2, 2' therebetween.

During a very brief dwell of the insertion rams 82, 82

I in their retracted positions, the lever 172 is swung into a slightclockwise arc to feed the carriage a distance equal to the spacedbetween adjacent terminals thereby to locate the second set of terminalsin alignment with the rams.

The operator repeats the foregoing wire handling procedures for eachpair of wires of the bundle until wires have been inserted into a wirereceiving portions of all of the terminals. After wires have beeninserted into the two terminals on opposite sides of the connector atthe extreme lefthand end thereof, a pawl 168 will feed the carriagerightwardly until it reaches the limit of its travel as shown in FIG. 5and the connector having wires attached to the terminals can be removed.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for trimming the end of a conductor and inserting thetrimmed .end into the wire-receiving portion of a terminal in anelectrical device such as an electrical connector, said electricaldevice having a plurality of said terminals therein with saidconductorreceiving portions arranged in a row, said apparatuscomprising:

supporting means for supporting said electrical device in apredetermined position,

indexing means for feeding said supporting means along a supportingmeans feed path which extends in the direction of said row, saidindexing means being effective to feed said supporting means a distanceequal to the spacing between adjacent terminal receiving portions insaid row,

conductor trimming and insertion ram means on side of said supportingmeans feed path, said trimming and insertion ram means beingreciprocable along an insertion ram path towards and away from saidsupporting means, said insertion ram means being effective to trim aconductor extending between said ram means and said supporting means andinsert the trimmed conductor into a conductorreceiving portion of one ofsaid terminals,

conductor stop for locating a conductor with its axis extendingtransversely of said insertion ram feed path, said conductor stopnormally extending transversely of said supporting means feed path andnormally being in spaced relationship to an electrical device held onsaid supporting means, said stop being movable away from said path topermit movement of a conductor therepast and actuating means foractuating said ram means and said indexing means and for concomitantlymoving said stop means form its normal position away from said pathwhereby,

upon positioning a connector on said supporting means and upon locatinga conductor against said stop means with its axis extending between saidram means and said supporting means and upon energizing said actuatingmeans, said conductor is trimmed and inserted into theconductor-receiving portion of one of said terminals, and said stopmeans is thereafter moved from said supporting means feed path, and saidsupporting means is indexed to position the next adjacentconductor-receiving portion in said electrical device in alignment withsaid ram means.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including conductor clamping rammeans, said clamping ram means being reciprocable along a clamping rampath towards and away from said electrical device, said clamping rampath being beside said insertion ram path, said clamping ram means beingeffective to clamp said conductor during trimming thereof and insertionof said conductor into a conductor-receiving portion of said electricaldevice.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 including a fixed shear memberbetween said insertion ram means and said clamping ram means, said fixedshear member being cooperable with said insertion ram means to trim saidconductor.

4. Apparatus for trimming the ends of each wire of a pair of wires andinserting the trimmed wire ends into wire-receiving means on anelectrical connector or the like, said connector having two parallelrows of said wire receiving means, said wire receiving means of said tworows facing in opposite directions, said apparatus comprising:

connector supporting means for supporting said connector in apredetermined position,

first and second wire trimming and inserting rams,

said rams being disposed on opposite sides of said supporting means andbeing reciprocable along first and second paths respectively towards andaway from a connector supported on said supporting means,

pair splitting and wire guide means disposed in alignment with saidsupporting means, said splitting and guide means being effective, uponmovement therepast of a wire pair transversely of the axis of the pair,to split said pair and locate one wire of said pair in a predeterminedposition with its axis extending transversely of said first and secondpaths and between said rams and said connector supported on saidsupporting means, whereby, upon location of the wires of a pair in saidpredetermined positions and upon movement of said rams towards saidsupporting means, the end portions of said wires are trimmed and thetrimmed wires ends are inserted into wire receiving means in saidconnector, and indexing means for indexing said supporting means along athird path a distance equal to the spacing between adjacent wirereceiving means in said rows, said third path extending transversely ofsaid first and second paths whereby after insertion of a pairs of wiresinto wire-receiving means on said connector, the next adjacentwirereceiving means are moved into alignment with said wire-trimming andinserting rams.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including a pair of clamping rams,one of said clamping rams being beside each of said insertion rams, saidclamping rams being movable with said insertion rams to clamp said wiresduring severing and insertion thereof.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including wire stop means forlocating said wires in said predetermined positions, said wire stopmeans normally extending transversely of said third path and in spacedrelationship to a connector on said supporting means, said wire stopmeans being movable away from said third path to permitmovement of saidwire therepast during indexing of said supporting means.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said wire stop meanscomprises a pair of wire stops, each of said wire stops being associatedwith, and extending beside, one of said wire trimming and insertionrams, said stops being movable away from said third path with saidtrimming and insertion rams during movement of said insertion rams awayfrom said connector.

8. Apparatus for trimming the ends of each wire of a pair of wires andconnecting the trimmed wires to the wire receiving portions ofelectrical terminals contained in an electrical device such as anelectrical connector, said electrical device having two rows ofwirereceiving portions on oppositely facing sides thereof, saidapparatus comprising:

supporting means for supporting said electrical device in apredetermined position,

indexing means for indexing said supporting means in one direction alonga supporting means feed path which extends in the direction of said rowsa distance equal to the spacing between adjacent wirereceiving portionsin said rows,

first and second wire'trimming and inserting rams on two opposite sidesof said supporting means feed path, said wire-trimming and insertingrams being reciprocable towards and away from said feed path,

first and second fixed shear members, each of said shear members beingbeside one of said wiretrimming and inserting rams,

first and second wire-stops on opposite sides of said path, saidwire-stops normally extending across said path in spaced relationship tosaid supporting means, each of said stops being effective to locate awire with its axis extending transversely of said feed path, past anelectrical device on said supporting means and between said electricaldevice and one of said trimming and insertion rams and said electricaldevice,

said wire stops being latrally movable away from said path to permitmovement of wires therepast which have been connected to wire-receivingportions in said rows whereby,

upon locating one wire of said pair on each side of said feed path andagainst stop means with each wire axis extending between an insertionram and said support means thence between one of said fixed shearmembers and said support means, and upon movement of said rams towardssaid support means, said wires are trimmed and connected towire-receiving portions of said terminals, and upon movement of saidwire stops away from said path and indexing of said supporting means,said connector is moved along said path to locate adjacentwire-receiving portions of said terminals in alignment with saidtrimming and insertion rams.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8 including electrical means foractuating said indexing means, said wiretrimming, and said insertingrams, and for controlling movement of said wire stops, and switch meansfor energizing said electrical means, said switch means comprising apair of switches which are engageable by said wires to energize saidelectrical means when said wires are located against said wire stops.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 including static wire pair guidemeans, said guide means being aligned with said supporting means andhaving guide surfaces for guiding said wires towards said wire stops.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10 including first and secondclamping rams disposed beside said first and second wire-trimming andinsertion rams respectively, said clamping rams being movable towardsand away from said supporting means and being effective to clamp saidwires during trimming and insertion thereof. l l

1. Apparatus for trimming the end of a conductor and inserting thetrimmed end into the wire-receiving portion of a terminal in anelectrical device such as an electrical connector, said electricaldevice having a plurality of said terminals therein with saidconductor-receiving portions arranged in a row, said apparatuscomprising: supporting means for supporting said electrical device in apredetermined position, indexing means for feeding said supporting meansalong a supporting means feed path which extends in the direction ofsaid row, said indexing means being effective to feed said supportingmeans a distance equal to the spacing between adjacent terminalreceiving portions in said row, conductor trimming and insertion rammeans on side of said supporting means feed path, said trimming andinsertion ram means being reciprocable along an insertion ram pathtowards and away from said supporting means, said insertion ram meansbeing effective to trim a conductor extending between said ram means andsaid supporting means and insert the trimmed conductor into aconductor-receiving portion of one of said terminals, a conductor stopfor locating a conductor with its axis extending transversely of saidinsertion ram feed path, said conductor stop normally extendingtransversely of said supporting means feed path and normally being inspaced relationship to an electrical device held on said supportingmeans, said stop being movable away from said path to permit movement ofa conductor therepast and actuating means for actuating said ram meansand said indexing means and for concomitantly moving said stop meansform its normal position away from said path whereby, upon positioning aconnector on said supporting means and upon locating a conductor againstsaid stop means with its axis extending between said ram means and saidsupporting means and upon energizing said actuating means, saidconductor is trimmed and inserted into the conductor-receiving portionof one of said terminals, and said stop means is thereafter moved fromsaid supporting means feed path, and said supporting means is indexed toposition the next adjacent conductor-receiving portion in saidelectrical device in alignment with said ram means.
 2. Apparatus as setforth in claim 1 including conductor clamping ram means, saId clampingram means being reciprocable along a clamping ram path towards and awayfrom said electrical device, said clamping ram path being beside saidinsertion ram path, said clamping ram means being effective to clampsaid conductor during trimming thereof and insertion of said conductorinto a conductor-receiving portion of said electrical device. 3.Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 including a fixed shear member betweensaid insertion ram means and said clamping ram means, said fixed shearmember being cooperable with said insertion ram means to trim saidconductor.
 4. Apparatus for trimming the ends of each wire of a pair ofwires and inserting the trimmed wire ends into wire-receiving means onan electrical connector or the like, said connector having two parallelrows of said wire receiving means, said wire receiving means of said tworows facing in opposite directions, said apparatus comprising: connectorsupporting means for supporting said connector in a predeterminedposition, first and second wire trimming and inserting rams, said ramsbeing disposed on opposite sides of said supporting means and beingreciprocable along first and second paths respectively towards and awayfrom a connector supported on said supporting means, pair splitting andwire guide means disposed in alignment with said supporting means, saidsplitting and guide means being effective, upon movement therepast of awire pair transversely of the axis of the pair, to split said pair andlocate one wire of said pair in a predetermined position with its axisextending transversely of said first and second paths and between saidrams and said connector supported on said supporting means, whereby,upon location of the wires of a pair in said predetermined positions andupon movement of said rams towards said supporting means, the endportions of said wires are trimmed and the trimmed wires ends areinserted into wire receiving means in said connector, and indexing meansfor indexing said supporting means along a third path a distance equalto the spacing between adjacent wire receiving means in said rows, saidthird path extending transversely of said first and second paths wherebyafter insertion of a pairs of wires into wire-receiving means on saidconnector, the next adjacent wire-receiving means are moved intoalignment with said wire-trimming and inserting rams.
 5. Apparatus asset forth in claim 4 including a pair of clamping rams, one of saidclamping rams being beside each of said insertion rams, said clampingrams being movable with said insertion rams to clamp said wires duringsevering and insertion thereof.
 6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4including wire stop means for locating said wires in said predeterminedpositions, said wire stop means normally extending transversely of saidthird path and in spaced relationship to a connector on said supportingmeans, said wire stop means being movable away from said third path topermit- movement of said wire therepast during indexing of saidsupporting means.
 7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said wirestop means comprises a pair of wire stops, each of said wire stops beingassociated with, and extending beside, one of said wire trimming andinsertion rams, said stops being movable away from said third path withsaid trimming and insertion rams during movement of said insertion ramsaway from said connector.
 8. Apparatus for trimming the ends of eachwire of a pair of wires and connecting the trimmed wires to the wirereceiving portions of electrical terminals contained in an electricaldevice such as an electrical connector, said electrical device havingtwo rows of wire-receiving portions on oppositely facing sides thereof,said apparatus comprising: supporting means for supporting saidelectrical device in a predetermined position, indexing means forindexing said supporting means in one direction along a supporting meansfeed path which extends in the direction of sAid rows a distance equalto the spacing between adjacent wire-receiving portions in said rows,first and second wire-trimming and inserting rams on two opposite sidesof said supporting means feed path, said wire-trimming and insertingrams being reciprocable towards and away from said feed path, first andsecond fixed shear members, each of said shear members being beside oneof said wire-trimming and inserting rams, first and second wire-stops onopposite sides of said path, said wire-stops normally extending acrosssaid path in spaced relationship to said supporting means, each of saidstops being effective to locate a wire with its axis extendingtransversely of said feed path, past an electrical device on saidsupporting means and between said electrical device and one of saidtrimming and insertion rams and said electrical device, said wire stopsbeing latrally movable away from said path to permit movement of wirestherepast which have been connected to wire-receiving portions in saidrows whereby, upon locating one wire of said pair on each side of saidfeed path and against stop means with each wire axis extending betweenan insertion ram and said support means thence between one of said fixedshear members and said support means, and upon movement of said ramstowards said support means, said wires are trimmed and connected towire-receiving portions of said terminals, and upon movement of saidwire stops away from said path and indexing of said supporting means,said connector is moved along said path to locate adjacentwire-receiving portions of said terminals in alignment with saidtrimming and insertion rams.
 9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 8including electrical means for actuating said indexing means, saidwire-trimming, and said inserting rams, and for controlling movement ofsaid wire stops, and switch means for energizing said electrical means,said switch means comprising a pair of switches which are engageable bysaid wires to energize said electrical means when said wires are locatedagainst said wire stops.
 10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 includingstatic wire pair guide means, said guide means being aligned with saidsupporting means and having guide surfaces for guiding said wirestowards said wire stops.
 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10including first and second clamping rams disposed beside said first andsecond wire-trimming and insertion rams respectively, said clamping ramsbeing movable towards and away from said supporting means and beingeffective to clamp said wires during trimming and insertion thereof.